Tag: Phil Davis

Seemingly perpetual number one UFC light heavyweight contender Rashad Evans took the diplomatic approach today when addressing the news that Lyoto Machida will be leapfrogging him to a shot at the promotion’s current 205-pound champion, Jon Jones at UFC 140 in December. In a statement released by his management group, Authentic Sports Management, Evans explained that that the injured thumb he incurred in his UFC 133 bout with Tito Ortiz back in August will likely require an additional three weeks of rehab before he can resume training, meaning his camp would only be six-and-a-half weeks, leaving him without sufficient time to prepare for such an important bout.

“After my last fight against Tito Ortiz, I dislocated my right thumb, which required it to be set back in place and held with pins. 24 hours ago, my physician removed the pins,” Evans explained. “At that time, I learned that it would require another three weeks of rehabilitation before engaging in any exercise or training that would require the use of my hand.”

(Jon Jones buys his first new car — a $190,000 2012 Bentley. For more pics of the UFC light-heavyweight champ’s new ride, head to MMAConvert.)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. Starting today, we’ll be giving you guys short previews of each article we link to. We vouch for this stuff, so click, okay?

- My First Fight: Kenny Florian (MMA Fighting)
“Looking back, it’s crazy. The way that I trained, the way I ate, it was terrible. It was so far from what I do now…Ignorance is bliss, I guess, even when I was fighting on The Ultimate Fighter, weighing in at a chubby 178 pounds for a [185-pound fight], it was all kind of like I was just too dumb to know better.”

- Culinary Workers Union Creates Anti-UFC Website (The Fight Nerd)
“Maintained by the Culinary Workers Union, Local 226, the website uses the acronym of UFC to stand for “Unfit For Children” instead of the “Ultimate Fighting Championship.” Dana White’s many rants are listed in detail on this page across a series of sub-categories, including “Obscenities,” “Slurs” which features many of the comments DFW directed at Loretta Hunt among others, “Cheap Shots” which focuses on remarks about random people involved in entertainment and sports, and “Other $#@%!!!” which documents rude comments that UFC fighters have said about others, including Chael Sonnen’s negative thoughts on Brazil.”

- Hired Hero: An Interview Exclusive With UFC 136 Fighter Brian Stann, Part Two (MMA Mania)
“The fact of the matter is, I don’t care who you are. If I hit you on the chin, there’s a good chance you’re going out. Anderson possesses that same ability. He’s only a man. I don’t put any fighter on a pedestal of being unbeatable. I train with guys like Jon Jones every day who is every bit as devastating.”

Now, either the UFC is teaching him a lesson for wanting “Anderson Silva Money” for stepping in on short notice to face Rashad Evans at UFC 133 or they want to save the Japanese-Brazilian fighter for its February 26 return to Japan. Either way, Lyoto, who only fought once in 2011 at UFC 129 in April, won’t even be making Strikeforce Challengers money the rest of the year. Lucky for him he has the Knockout of the Night bonus he got for retiring Randy Couture and knocking out his tooth.

With Jon Jones fighting Quinton Jackson at UFC 135, and the winner of that fight more than likely fighting Rashad Evans, the light-heavyweight title is not without challengers. Based on a report being passed along by MMAMania.com, the winner of Jones/Jackson vs. Evans may already have a challenger in line as well. Rumor has it that Lyoto Machida vs. Phil Davis is in the works for a future card.

As you may remember, when Phil Davis was forced to withdraw from his fight with Rashad Evans at UFC 133 due to a knee injury, Lyoto Machida was originally set to replace him. However, Machida felt he was worth that “Anderson Silva money” and declined the bout. So having the two potential Rashad Evans opponents fight each other for the right to potentially fight Rashad Evans sort of makes sense, I guess.

(Does a Kimura by any other name hurt just as much? Pic: JudoInfo.com)

To enter the cage, to square off against another man trained to hurt you, makes you a tough guy. To make him surrender—the fight, his pride, his win bonus, his status in the sport—makes you a fighter. To become so proficient, so inventive in the art of submission that they name a particular form of kicking another man’s ass in your honor, that makes you immortal. One by one these men will fall, each and every one of them, but every time a limb is cranked, every time a man is rendered unconscious, their legacy will live on. Here’s a tribute to five men whose names grace the finer side of fighting.

The promotion now finds itself in the exact position it was in only days ago when an injury to Phil Davis sent them scrambling to find a suitable light heavyweight replacement for their main event bout. It was slim pickings at that time, with Machida attempting to ransom off his services for “Anderson Silva money” and Tito taking the fight after initially turning it down. They now have three weeks to sign a replacement or remove Franklin from the card.

Machida’s reasons for turning down the Evans bout—namely short notice and the need to relocate his entire training camp to the US—have only been exacerbated at this point with even fewer days on the calendar. Of course, maybe he’s willing to suck it up after Dana was vocal about his feelings on the matter. Middleweights Chris Leben and Chael Sonnen had also volunteered their services, but Sonnen now has a dance partner. Could we see “The Crippler” make the jump to 205lbs to take a swing at another legend?

“I haven’t heard anything about [whether or not the winner of the fight with Davis gets the next title shot]. I don’t even want to assume something because every time I assume something it just never works out the way my assumptions go. I don’t like to assume; if it happens, it happens. I just keep going out there and fight,” he explained. “There’s a lot of guys in the 205 weight class. It’s whatever, man. I just want to fight. I’ve been out of the cage so long that I realize what a privilege it is to go out there and compete. I haven’t been out there in so long that I’m kind of missing the sport a whole lot.”

(“My knee should be OK next week. I’ll take Tito when they match Rashad up with Lyoto.”)

According to MMAFighting, Phil Davis suffered a knee injury and as such has been forced to pull out of his UFC 133 main event bout with Rashad Evans. Although no replacement opponent has been named, sources say the UFC will be announcing Davis injury and Evans’ new opponent for the August 6 event soon.

Two prime candidates would be Lyoto Machida and Tito Ortiz — both of whom Evans has faced before. He lost in his very first title defense against Machida by second-round KO at UFC 98, five months after TKO’ing Forrest Griffin at UFC 92 to win the strap. Evans battled to a draw with Tito Ortiz at UFC 73, but would have likely lost the bout had “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” not been deducted a point for grabbing the fence.

Machida is on the sidelines awaiting word of his next bout and Ortiz could likely be ready in time to fight on the card.